This invention relates to a military land vehicle having improved means for bodily moving an external cannon from a lowered prone position near the roof area of a vehicle turret to an elevated prone position remote from the turret roof area. The cannon support means comprises an upright hollow tube that serves as a conveyor means for delivering individual rounds of ammunition from the turret interior to the cannon firing chamber.
With the cannon in its elevated position the vehicle can be located in a trench or behind a hill or wall in a partially-concealed condition; the elevated cannon can be fired at air targets or ground targets beyond the hill or wall without fully exposing the vehicle to enemy observation. The cannon is lowered when it is desired to move the vehicle over flat terrain not conducive to concealment of the vehicle from enemy observation. The lowered cannon somewhat minimizes the vehicle silhouette, thereby reducing the possibilities for early detection by the enemy, and/or destruction by enemy fire.
It is already known to provide military land vehicles with elevatable cannons. See for example my issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,446, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,598 issued to C. C. Sons Jr., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,999 issued to K. S. R. Hultgren. The principle feature of the present invention is the incorporation of an ammunition loading capability into the cannon support structure. The loading system is designed to be operational with the cannon in its elevated or lowered position.